BEP1030 Managing Operations
Final Assignment. Individual Report for 60% of overall grade.

You are required to produce a written account of an investigation of an observed business operation/problem in the form of a case study in the food or beverage sector.

There is word limit of 2000 words excluding bibliography and diagrams.

You must use direct observation as the primary research method for collecting your data. The observation should be unobtrusive and not impair the operation you are studying. Interviews, surveys or questionnaires should NOT be used.

Your report will be assessed in terms of:

STRUCTURE & APPROACH 25%

• A succinct introduction
• Clarity of writing – clear presentation of evidence and information
• Research and referencing skills
• A case study narrative which is logically organised
• An ending which descriptively summarises the observation, recounts the selected case company as either the problem/challenges noticed or simply the conclusion of your findings, clearly defined.

METHOD 25%

• Context – relationship between you as the researcher and the observed organisation (e.g., customer, consumer)
• Adherence to the brief
• Brief explanation of the observation method employed (how you did what you did)

CONTENT & ANALYSIS 50%

• Focus on a specific operation activity or process
• A representation of selected operations management concept or concepts
• Some evidence which demonstrates a clear understanding of the operations choices and/or constraints, and/or challenges facing the observed organisation
• A focus for the case study narrative that links to the observation and the data collected
• Use of appropriate vocabulary from the Operations Management domain

Indicative list of operations management concepts: systems view, order fulfilment, Back/front office, capacity management, process design, process analysis, work flow, recycling, waste identification (product and or process), efficiency, customer service, product quality, quality of service, queuing theory/problems, information flow, demand management, seasonality, performance measurements/objectives, order qualifiers, order winners, control and planning, lead time, agile operations, design of layout, processing technology